The One Left Behind
by Seravia
Summary: "No," he insisted in a strangled tone. "Don't go, Misao. I love you. I need you."


**The One Left Behind**

**By:** RedHairRurouniFan

**Author's Notes:** Hello, hello! Me again! I really need to post my multi-chapter fic… I've gotten a lot written yet none typed. Come to think of it, I'm supposed to be revising Back To The Start… Anyway, here's another Misaoshi fic. Wait, no, this is a SouMi fic. Scratch that first comment, the pairing is SouMi. I'm not a diehard Misaoshi or SouMi fan, but I've written quite a bit for the pairings. This is a one-sided Misaoshi though. Aoshi ends up alone, poor him, but Misao gets her happily ever after with Sou-chan! Happy reading!

**Disclaimer:** Do you really think I'm Nobuhiro Watsuki? Cuz I'm not. Considering that, I don't believe I own _Rurouni Kenshin_. (Checks records) Nope. I don't.

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"Misao!" there came a shout from behind a young couple. The girl with a long braid trailing down her back turned towards the voice. A cheery smile broke out over her features and she tugged on the hand of the man beside her, eagerly waving.

"Aoshi! Hello! What're you doing around here? You're normally meditating," Misao called as she waited for Aoshi to catch up.

"I thought I would get some fresh air. Hello Misao, Soujirou," Aoshi greeted, his voice dropping in warmth significantly as he spoke the name of the latter. Soujirou's smile faded slightly, since he hoped he and Aoshi could be friends, despite the fact they were rivals in love. Misao, on the other hand, took no notice and continued chatting.

"Misao," Aoshi interrupted. He glanced down at the intertwined hands of the couple before him with unmasked disdain, and glowered at the offending diamond ring encircling Misao's ring finger. "I understand that tomorrow is your wedding day, Misao, Soujirou. I hoped I could speak with you alone, Misao. Do you mind?" Aoshi asked coolly, formally, only attempting to appeal to Misao, really not caring what Soujirou thought.

Misao's sunny smile dimmed in the tiniest bit, but quickly she replied, "Of course, Aoshi. Lead the way." She disentangled her fingers from her fiancée's and gave him a quick smile before following Aoshi into the Aoiya. He led her into his room and shut the shoji softly behind him, gesturing for Misao to kneel on a cushion.

Misao complied, and immediately after Aoshi took a seat, she inquired curiously, "Aoshi, what is it? You're so stiff and formal. Why'd you need to see me?"

"Misao," he began softly, watching her slight tilt of the head with adoration. He almost smiled. Almost. "You do know what you're doing, ne? You are getting married. **Tomorrow**. Do you have no regrets? Do you really, truly love Soujirou? Do you really believe he's destined to be your soul mate? Cam you spend the rest of your life with him?" Mentally, he added, _'Is there anyone else you'd rather spend it with?'_

Misao gave a small, feminine smile. Aoshi'd never seen her so demure. Maybe that was why it'd taken so long for him to realize he loved her, whereas Soujirou saw the lady in her right away.

"Aoshi," she murmured. "I won't ask why you ask this, for I believe I already know. To answer your questions, yes; I know precisely what I'm doing. I have but one regret. The regret that I didn't realize how much I loved him sooner. I was busy attempting to win your affection even though it was clear you didn't love me. But now I know that I love him more than I've ever loved anyone. Love is a very odd feeling. I never thought I'd find true love that was reciprocated. But I did. Soujirou showed me that. He loved me even while I didn't love him. He never gave up and he finally won me over. You ask if he's my soul mate. I don't know. I don't know whether to believe it or not. I thought **you** were my soul mate. Clearly, I was deluding myself. If we **are** soul mates, only time will tell. What I do know is that I love him. I always will. I can spend an eternity with him and still feel it too short a span. If that's not the ultimate declaration of love, I don't know what is."

"I see," Aoshi whispered. "I always believed you loved **me**, Misao. When did you stop loving me, and start loving him? Was it because I pushed you away?"

Misao sighed, contemplating the question for several moments before answering. "So did I, Aoshi, so did I. I always thought I'd never love anyone but you. I was wrong. I don't think there's a clear, precise time where my love transferred from you to him. It was a process, I suppose. Of course, your rejection played a role, but had you not pushed me, I may have stayed. However, I wonder if we would've been happy. To be your wife was always my wildest most wonderful dream. I still dream that dream sometimes. Except now, I can't seem to imagine a perfect happy ending for it unless it involves Sou-chan. He's become so important to me, Aoshi, you know what I mean?" Misao held up her left hand to the light, admiring the iridescent rays of light reflecting off the diamond with a happy glow. "I don't know what my life'd be like without him. What I'd even **do** without him," she finished, a thoughtful look on her delicate features.

"What about me? What if I wanted to reconcile? What if I loved you, Misao?" Aoshi begged her, a wild look in his eyes, desperately grasping at straws, trying to keep her as his, even while he could feel her affection slipping away from him.

Misao smiled sadly, covering his right hand with her own left one. "Oh, Aoshi. How much I wish you'd said those words to me two years ago. I loved you then. Oh so much. I already know you want me to come back to you. Please stop looking at me so desperately, my dear Aoshi-sama. You aren't the same anymore. I know you love me. Deep down, I know I still love you too. But, that love is closely intertwined with hurt, and the fear of being hurt again. I know that Soujirou will never hurt me. At least not by denying me his love. The love I have for you dims in comparison to that I have for Sou-chan. You were always first and foremost in my heart and my life, but it took you much too long to realize that. I'm so sorry, Aoshi. But… you're too late." Then Misao slipped her hand away from his, moving to stand.

Out of desperation, Aoshi grabbed her hand in a vice-like grip, looking into her sad blue eyes despairingly. "No," he insisted in a strangled tone. "Don't go, Misao. I love you. I need you."

"No, you don't. I know you will find someone who loves you as much as I love Soujirou," she replied sadly, ever so gently pulling her fingers from his.

Slowly, she bent down and left a fleeting kiss on Aoshi's lips, both for him and her. Misao finally walked out of the room, tears streaming down her face. She knew he needed that kiss. It would help his heart to heal. But, it would help her too. It filled that gash in her heart, left by Aoshi's rejection. That kiss closed a chapter in her life, one of heartbreak. She was walking forward toward a brighter future, one with a husband that loved her, and whom she loved in return.

Aoshi sat still, dumbfounded, frozen with one hand in the air, just as Misao'd left it, and the other clenched tightly in his lap. Inside, he finally accepted that he truly was too late. Misao learned to move on, much sooner than he would've liked. He always thought he had all the time in the world to soothe those girlhood feelings that he was sure would fade with time. He used to pray for the day she would find she loved another, until he realized he'd fallen in love with her long ago. He was simply too stupid to realize his own feelings for what they were. What took Aoshi ten years to see in Misao, Soujirou immediately embraced. Aoshi never acknowledged Misao's transition from childhood to womanhood, always thinking of her as a child with a crush, thinking she was wrong for loving him and that she didn't understand what this "love" she chased was. But, now it was clear that he was the one who was wrong, the one blinded by age. Soujirou saw the woman in Misao while Aoshi lived in denial. He'd had his chances. All fifty of them. He'd carelessly tossed them out the window. Soujirou took the first chance he got and latched on to it. Soujirou saw in Misao everything Aoshi had taken for granted.

Finally, Aoshi lowered his hand and admitted defeat to Misao's new love, Seta Soujirou. Aoshi was Misao's first love, but now in the wake of true love, he was the one left behind.

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**End Notes:** Wow, that took me two hours to write. Not very long, but it is just a one-shot. Out of curiosity, should I write a companion to this on Aoshi's thoughts this whole time? Or even of the wedding. Or how Misao was pushed away and Soujirou won her love? Please give some feedback! I personally thought this fic was pretty good. I've written better, but this one's not horrible. Ja ne!


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